This invention is directed to the field of packaging and transporting of aquarium fish and aquatic plants and in particular to a marine life packaging and acclimatization device and method for commercial or consumer use, that permits the shipping of aquarium fish in a sealed container and allows a means for acclimating the packaged fish and plants to a new aquatic environment thereby diminishing or eliminating the risk of shock to the fish.
The current method of transporting aquarium fish results in a high percentage of fish lost by death. The losses can be due to improper storage, transportation, or acclimatization. Retail distributors may not be trained in proper storage, wherein over feeding can be as destructive as under feeding. Improper transportation containers may lead to contamination of the water, loss of oxygenated water, or the like leading to health related problems if not loss. The loss of marine life is especially troublesome if the fish are rare or otherwise expensive such is the case with exotic fish. Even if the loss of a common goldfish can be troublesome if the fish was lost by an impressionable child who takes the loss as a personal failure. A common practice for the storage of fish is the use of a retail store located aquarium. Further, a common means for the average consumer to transport fish is by use of a soft plastic bag filled with water. Plastic bags are difficult to handle leading to the possibility of leaks and injury to the fish. Live marine plants are typically sold to the consumer in a similar fashion as the fish, wherein the transportation problem is similar.
The typical aquarium has water which may be of a certain temperature, pH, nitrate, ammonium and other chemical balances. Fish are adaptable to their environment but require time to adjust, or acclimate, to a new environment. For this reason, fish that are taken from a retail store aquarium are packaged with water from their existing environment. A problem occurs when the customer inserts the newly purchased fish into the home aquarium. Sudden exposure of the fish to varied water temperatures and chemical balances often result in shocked, sick fish which consequently result in a large percentage of lost fish. The result can be a dissatisfied customer who blames the retailer for selling bad fish and typically requests a refund. This condition is principally prejudicial due to the fact that exotic fish and plants are quite rare and expensive, and created by a situation outside the control of the retailer. Various methods and devices have been developed in recent years in an attempt to address these problems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,361.A discloses a method and device for the treatment and life preservation of bivalve mullusks outside their natural environment. The device is made of a transparent rigid container closed by a transparent rigid top fitting into the sides of the container. The top is equipped with a valve intended to permit the introduction of a gas of an appropriate composition, after the extraction of the confined air in the container and after the introduction of the mollusks and their conservation liquid. Such method, if eventually would apply to the transportation of fish and live aquatic plants, would not permit the realization of a rigorous initial packaging, and even less to an appropriate acclimatization.
FR Patent 2,755,432.A describes a packaging for live aquatic animals, using a container with water and air, air-tight closed with a top, being distinguished mainly by similar devices by a particular bottom and sides forms. Taking into account the shapes of the aquatic animals being mostly bivalve shellfish, oysters, which can be laid out in one layer without risk of tipping over.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,200 discloses a container, being a kind of portable fish tank, intended essentially to maintain live fish used for fishing or restocking of fish, so that they retain their vivacity. This includes a reusable top with two holes and associated plugs, permitting the water oxygenation and the simultaneous aspiration of the enclosed air between the water surface and the top, with the help of a device fixed to the exterior side of the container. Large diameter piping is provided at the base of the container, to allow the pouring out of part or all of the contents, after opening one plug in the top.
Family patents, WO0045632A1, FR2789058B1, EP 1148778A1 and AU0023003A5 disclose an invention consisting of a hard plastic tray sealed with a transparent plastic film, wherein have been previously introduced the fish or aquatic plants and water. On the sealing film there is indicated the site for perforating two orifices for respectively passing through a drip tab and the discharge of an overflow during the slow acclimatization phase at the end of which the content of the tray is poured into an aquarium after the sealing film has been removed. This invention requires for the acclimatization process, a device made of a supple piping, one extremity joined to a diving tube in the fish tank water and the other extremity is inserted, with the intermediary of a faucet, in the container through one of the holes pierced in the film. The water flow from the fish tank to the container is made by gravity in placing each container below the water level of the fish tank. The invention provides an awkward, cumbersome, and potentially sloppy method for transferring existing water to the container during the acclimatization process.
Thus, what is lacking in the art is the ability to ship live fish and plants in individual containers which easily lend themselves to neat, clean, spill free portability, packaging and transportation, the same of which is used by the packager through the retailer and through to, and including, the end user consumer allowing the customer to progressively acclimate the fish directly within the new aquatic environment.
The instant invention provides a method for packaging marine life such as live fish, seaweed, coral, plants, and the like in sealed containers. In the preferred embodiment, a plastic container is employed having an open top. The container is partially filled with water, before receipt of fish, coral, aquatic plants or the like and either sealed if used for short term storage, or placed inside an air evacuation chamber that flushes, or evacuates, air from the container and replaces the air with a gas such as oxygen. An air-tight lid is sealed to the container capturing a layer of the gas in a void over the water. The sealed container protects the fish during transportation, prevents contamination of the water, and the oxygen provides sufficient air permeation with the water to allow the fish to survive for an extended period of time. Food may be placed within the container before shipping, such as a slow release tablet, also providing extended storage of the fish. Insertion of clean water, or filtered water and removal of contaminated air reduces or eliminates bacterial growth and associated discoloration of water.
The use of a clear, transparent, or opaque container and lid, or film cover, allows the storage device to further operate a miniature aquarium. The container may include display items such as a sea chest, gravel, and so forth.
The container is further used to acclimate the fish to a point-of-use aquarium, fish at farms, wholesalers and retailers. A weight may be formed integral with the container, shipped within or attached to the container, secured to the container by the consumer at the moment of acclimatization, or the use of a weight to force down the container. The integral weight may consist of a decorative item such as a ceramic figure, hardened time-release fish food, sand, or simply a non-decorative solid weight. Alternatively, the consumer may insert a weight such as coins, at the moment of acclimatization.
The container includes printed marks for puncture holes to allow the exchange of water between the container and the receiving aquatic environment. Weights included in the package are arranged so as to allow gravity to pull on the container, however, the puncture holes permit a predetermined amount of air to escape the container while slowing being displaced by the water of the aquatic environment. The container is designed to sink providing an absolute indicator that fluid admixing is complete. The lid of the container can then be opened or removed allowing the fish to enter their new environment, which is now the same as the water within the container.
Thus, an objective of the invention is to provide a safe, clean and practical method of temporarily storing live fish and aquatic plants.
Still another objective of the invention is to provide a container that protects the fish from contamination during shipping and temporary storage.
Yet still another objective of the invention is to provide a container which may be utilized by the retailer for display purposes.
Another objective of the invention is to disclose a method of acclimatization to the receiving aquatic environment with respect to the aquatic environment""s water temperature and chemical composition.